Heat-Pipes
COFAN’S HEAT PIPES ARE SUPERCONDUCTORS WITH EXTRAORDINARY HEAT TRANSFER CAPACITY.
Features Included:
- High conductivity (5,000 watts/meter·K to 200,000 watts/meter·K)
- Energy-efficient
- Light weight
- Low cost
- Flexibility of many different size and shape options
- 100% Inspection of all heat pipes, before and after bending
- Passed stringent heat transfer tests to reach a minimum temperature gradient within a minimal time period (Delta T < 4 degrees C, time period ~ 7 seconds)
- Longest heat pipe on the market, all the way up to 4700 mm
What Are Heat Pipes?
A heat pipe is composed of a vacuum-tightened vessel, wick structure, and some amount of working fluid. As heat is inputted at the evaporator, the fluid vaporizes, creating a pressure gradient. This pressure gradient pushes the vapor to flow along the pipe to the cooler section where it condenses, giving up its latent heat of vaporization. The working fluid is then returned to the evaporator by capillary forces developed in the wick structure or by gravity.
Main components:
- Container
- High strength, high thermal conductivity
- Working fluid
- High latent heat, high thermal conductivity
- Wick/capillary structure
- State-of-the-art copper powder sintering for maximum performance
- Maintains effective capillary action when bent or used against gravity
Heat is absorbed from the source through vaporization and released at a sink through condensation. The vapor travels from source to sink through the central channel, while the liquid travels from sink to source through the porous wick.
The rapid growth of the electronics and the personal computer industries have introduced challenging heat dissipation problems. Heat pipes effectively transport heat with minimal drops in temperature.
Typical Applications
- Laptop computers
- High-performance processors (CPU, GPU)
- Aerospace; spacecraft temperature equalization, component cooling
- Constrained geometries
- Low maintenance/high reliability applications
- Noise-sensitive environments where heat can be dissipated to a larger, remote heat sink
- Stagnation regions where airflow is poor
- Limited electrical consumption
- Passive solution to conserve battery power
| Wick structure | Standard Length/mm | Special Length/mm | Performance 100~350 L/mm | ||||||
| Mesh | Groove | Sintered | 60~120 | 121~200 | 201~400 | 601~4700 | Power/W | Thermal resistance ℃/w | |
| Ф2 | ● | ● | ● | 3~6 | 0.62~1.66 | ||||
| Ф3 | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 10~15 | 0.33~0.5 | ||
| Ф4 | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 15~28 | 0.17~0.33 | |
| Ф5 | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | 25~35 | 0.14~0.20 | |
| Ф6 | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● (Groove & Mesh) | 30~50 | 0.1~0.2 |
| Ф8 | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● (Groove & Mesh) | 50~70 | 0.07~0.15 |
| Ф10 | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● (Mesh) | 60~90 | 0.05~0.1 | |
| Ф12 | ● | ● | ● | ● (Mesh) | 130~160 | 0.03 | |||
| Ф14 | ● | ● | ● (Mesh) | 180~220 | 0.08 | ||||
Wick Structure Comparison
| Wick Structure | Screen Mesh | Groove | Sintering Powder |
| Image |  |
 |
 |
| Rate Process | Easy | Easy | Hard |
| Capillary | Bad | Good | Better |
| Flat (Min.) | t = 2.0 | t = 1.5 | t = 2.5 |
| Bend (Min.) | 2 * Heat Pipe Diameter [D] |
2 * Heat Pipe Diameter [D] ~ 2 |
3 * Heat Pipe Diameter [D] |
| Resistance (t = 3 mm) | .250 ~ .350 | .03 ~ .040 | .030 ~ .045 |
| Heat Flux (t = 3 mm) | 35 | 40 | 45 |
| Cost | Low | Medium | High |
Heat Pipes In Stock
|
Diameter |
Part No. | Diameter x Length [mm] |
Part No. | Diameter x Length [mm] |
Part No. | Diameter x Length [mm] |
Part No. |
| 4 x 70 | 91-1028-70 | 5 x 100 | 91-1029-100 | 6 x 125 | 91-1030-125 | 8 x 125 | 91-1031-125 |
| 4 x 175 | 91-1028-175 | 5 x 125 | 91-1029-125 | 6 x 150 | 91-1030-150 | 8 x 150 | 91-1031-150 |
| 4 x 100 | 91-1028-100 | 5 x 150 | 91-1029-150 | 6 x 170 | 91-1030-170 | 8 x 175 | 91-1031-175 |
| 4 x 125 | 91-1028-125 | 5 x 175 | 91-1029 -175 | 6 x 200 | 91-1030-200 | 8 x 200 | 91-1031-200 |
| 4 x 200 | 91-1028-200 | 5 x 200 | 91-1029-200 | 6 x 225 | 91-1030-225 | 8 x 300 | 91-1031-300 |
| 4 x 250 | 91-1028-250 | 5 x 225 | 91-1029-225 | 6 x 250 | 91-1030-250 | ||
| 4 x 225 | 91-1028-225 | 5 x 250 | 91-1029-250 | 6 x 300 | 91-1030-300 | ||
| 4 x 300 | 91-1028-300 | 5 x 300 | 91-1029-300 |
Heat Pipe Working Fluid
How to select a working fluid:
- High surface tension – generates high capillary force and resists environment.
- High Vapor pressure – reduces vapor velocity.
- High latent heat – transfers more heat with less fluid.
- High thermal conductivity – lower ΔT and reduces nucleate boiling at the wick/wall interface.
- Low vapor viscosity – increase fluid flow capacity.
| Working Fluid | Relative Figure of Merit [80°C] | Useful Range [°C] | Wick Vessel Material | Life [hrs] |
| Ammonia | .45 | -60~100 | AL SS304 | 36000 |
| Freon 113 | 86 | -10~100 | CU AL SS304 | 25000 |
| Acetone | 300 | 0~120 | CU AL SS304 | 50000 |
| Methanol | 450 | 10~120 | CU AL SS304 | less than 50000 |
| Ethanol | 340 | 0~120 | CU SS304 | 24000 |
| Water | 40000 | 30~250 | CU | 7500000 |
Cofan USA’s flexible solutions:
- Lead time of less than one week for various diameters and lengths
- Copper; multiple plating options available to suit the application
- Custom bending done in-house for use in any hardware layout
- Various heat pipe diameters
- Various heat pipe lengths of up to 600 mm
| Copper Screen Mesh | ||||
| Assessment Parameter | Diameter (mm) | |||
| Thickness | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 |
| t = 2.0 mm | .65~.09; 15 | .50~.80; 18 | .35~.60; 35 | .30~.55; 45 |
| t = 2.5 mm | .55~.08; 18 | .45~.65; 22 | .25~.40; 40 | .20~.35; 50 |
| t =3.0 mm | .50~.70; 20 | .45~.60; 22 | .25~.35; 45 | .20~.30; 55 |
| Round | .50~.70; 20 | .40~.55; 25 | .20~.35; 45 | .15~.30; 60 |
| Units: R[°C/W]; Qmax[Watt] | ||||
| Copper Groove | ||||
| Assessment Parameter | Diameter (mm) | |||
| Thickness | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 |
| t = 2.0 mm | – | .40~.70; 5 | .40~.60; 5 | – |
| t = 2.5 mm | – | .04~.06; 25 | .03~.05; 40 | – |
| t =3.0 mm | – | .03~.05; 30 | .03~.04; 60 | – |
| t = 4.5 mm | – | – | – | .003~.015; 70 |
| Round | – | .03~.05; 35 | .02~.03; 65 | .002~.007; 80 |
| Units: R[°C/W]; Qmax[Watt] | ||||
| Copper Sintering Powder | ||||
| Assessment Parameter | Diameter (mm) | |||
| Thickness | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 |
| t = 2.0 mm | – | .035~.60; 5 | – | – |
| t = 2.5 mm | – | .04~.06; 25 | .03~.05; 40 | – |
| t =3.0 mm | – | .03~.05; 30 | .03~.04; 60 | – |
| t = 4.5 mm | – | – | – | .003~.015; 70 |
| Round | – | .03~.05; 35 | .02~.03; 65 | .002~.007; 80 |
| Units: R[°C/W]; Qmax[Watt] | ||||
Customized Bending & Flattening
| Diameter, D [mm] | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9.6 | 10 | 12 | 12.7 | 16 |
| Minimum Bending Radius [2*D] | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 24 | 25 | 32 |
| Standard Bending Radius [3*D] | 9 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 24 | 27 | 29 | 30 | 36 | 38 | 48 |
| Recommended Bending Radius [4*D] | 12 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 32 | 36 | 38 | 40 | 48 | 51 | 64 |
| Minimum Bending Angle [ø] | 90° | ||||||||||
| Recommended Bending Angle [ø] | 120° | ||||||||||
| Diameter, D [mm] | Thickness, t + 0.05 / – 0.10 [mm] | Width, W ± 0.15 [mm] |
| 3 | 1.2 | 3.94 |
| 1.5 | 4.10 | |
| 2.0 | 3.65 | |
| 2.5 | 3.32 | |
| 3.0 | N/A | |
| 4 | 1.5 | 5.49 |
| 2.0 | 5.23 | |
| 2.5 | 4.96 | |
| 3.0 | 4.65 | |
| 4.0 | N/A | |
| 5 | 1.4 | 7.14 |
| 1.5 | 7.01 | |
| 2.0 | 6.77 | |
| 2.3 | 6.60 | |
| 2.5 | 6.50 | |
| 3.0 | 6.26 | |
| 3.5 | 5.95 | |
| 4.0 | 5.63 | |
| 5.0 | N/A | |
| 6 | 1.5 | 8.69 |
| 2.0 | 8.41 | |
| 2.3 | 8.25 | |
| 2.4 | 8.20 | |
| 2.5 | 8.16 | |
| 2.7 | 8.00 | |
| 3.0 | 7.84 | |
| 3.5 | 7.57 | |
| 4.0 | 7.30 | |
| 4.8 | 6.86 | |
| 5.0 | 6.63 | |
| 5.3 | 6.60 | |
| 6.0 | N/A | |
| 8 | 2.0 | Undone |
| 2.5 | 11.26 | |
| 3.0 | 10.97 | |
| 3.5 | 10.71 | |
| 4.0 | 10.45 | |
| 4.5 | 10.20 | |
| 5.0 | 9.96 | |
| 6.0 | 9.36 | |
| 8.0 | N/A |
Need something special? Talk to our engineers today!
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